Voter Registration Drive

Boca Raton Florida Atlantic University today will join nine other state universities in a voter registration drive called "Wake-Up Wednesday," officials said. Registration, open to the public, will be 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the breezeway near the center of the Boca Raton campus, according to Victoria Holder, FAU director of student lobbying. Call 561-297-1194.

There is a "War on Voting" in this country and, wherever you live, you need to be paying close attention. The Constitution protects voters from discrimination, but that protection is being challenged in states across the nation, and making it harder for people to vote. In dozens of state legislatures, the new and expanded Republican majorities are pushing and even enacting policies that are proven to lead to the disfranchisement of eligible voters. When asked why, the proponents of these bills always claim that they are needed to prevent voter fraud.

The Broward Estates Civic Association and the Supervisor of Elections Office will hold a voter registration drive today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Parkway Middle School`s Performing Arts Center, 3600 NW Fifth Court., west of Fort Lauderdale. To register for the March 10 municipal election, you must be at least 18, a Broward County resident and a citizen of the United States.

The Value Voters Bus, a national conservative-minded tour, will make several stops in South Florida this weekend: A voter registration drive at Palm Beach Atlantic University at 10 a.m. Address: 901 S. Flagler Drive, West Palm Beach. The Faith Forum, a group at Calvary Chapel of Fort Lauderdale, 7 p.m. Jan. 20. Address: 2401 W. Cypress Creek Road. The Salt and Light Prayer Breakfast, a function of the New Presbyterian Church, at 8 a.m. Jan. 21. Address: 1450 SW Third St., Pompano Beach.

The Latin American Democratic Club of Broward County is sponsoring a picnic and citizenship and voter registration drive today at Tree Tops Park, 3900 SW 100th Ave., Davie. The event starts at 10 a.m. at the Sabal Palm Pavilion. Participants will listen to Latin music and eat hot dogs and barbecued chicken. People who want to apply for citizenship must bring two photos, a money order for $90 made out to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and a photocopy of both sides of their green card.

DELRAY BEACH -- A synagogue is conducting a six-day voter registration drive starting today. Residents who are new to the area or who recently have moved can register from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today, Thursday and Friday and on Oct. 30 and Nov. 1 and 2 at Temple Emeth. The synagogue is at 5780 W. Atlantic Ave., west of Military Trail. For information, call the synagogue at 498-3536. The drive is part of the synagogue`s Voter Registration Program, spokesman Sam Smolensky said.

COOPER CITY -- The city will sponsor a voter registration drive for Broward County residents from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Aug. 2 at the Cooper City Community Center, 9090 SW 50th Place. New registrations, re-registration for people who have not voted in five or more years, address and status changes will be done on the spot. The drive is being launched so people who have not registered will be able to vote in the Sept. 4 primary and in the Nov. 6 general election. For information, call Cynthia Healy, 434-4300, Ext. 55.

A three-month voter registration drive in Broward County high schools has signed up almost 5,000 students -- the majority of them as Republicans. Officials trained student leaders from each of 31 public and private high schools to register their peers between March and May, according to Barbara Taxis, administrative assistant to Supervisor of Elections Jane Carroll. The results: 4,808 students were registered, 2,328 of them as Republicans and 1,747 as Democrats. The other 734 signed up using other party affiliations.

HOLLYWOOD -- Civic activists in western Hollywood have begun a voter registration drive in hopes of getting enough residents to influence the March elections. Ray Truman, president of the Hollywood West Civic Association, said residents of the western part of the city traditionally have been apathetic in municipal elections. "If we can increase the voter turnout in the area, that will do a lot for having a voice," Truman said. Truman said eight residents of the area already have taken a course through the Broward County Supervisor of Elections office to become registrars.

west lake worth Local Hispanic leaders are planning to hold a town hall meeting this afternoon at the Argentinian Arts Organization west of Lake Worth. The meeting is in response to concerns from the Hispanic community about voter irregularities, said Henry SaldaM-fa, president and CEO of the Latino Leadership Institute. SaldaM-fa said the meeting would also focus on the recent voter registration drive targeted at Hispanics and the future of Hispanics' participation in politics. The meeting will begin at 4:30 p.m. and is open to the public.

Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes reports that a weeklong high school voter registration drive brought in more than 4,500 applications. The Elections Office put out its list of winners this weke from the April 20 to 24 event. All public, private and charter schools were eligible to participate. Here?s the winning high school for each size category, along with its number of registrations: College Academy @ BCC Central, Davie ? 66 Seagull School, Fort Lauderdale ? 44 Chaminade Madonna High School, Hollywood ?

Writer Toni Morrison famously dubbed Bill Clinton "the first black president" - a title he fervently embraced. Abner Mikva, the Chicago Democratic Party stalwart and former Clinton White House counsel, offers a variation on that theme. "If Clinton was our first black president, then Barack Obama is our first Jewish president," says Mikva, who was among the first to spot the potential of the young law school graduate with the odd name. "I use a Yiddish expression, yiddishe neshuma, to describe him," explains Mikva.

Brenet Etienne stepped off a school bus Tuesday morning and walked to the back of a line of voters waiting patiently to enter the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office. "It's outrageously long, but it's worth it," said Etienne, 18, eager to vote early in the U.S. presidential election. "I support change." Nearly two hours later, Etienne and 39 senior classmates from Palm Beach Lakes High School in West Palm Beach became first-time voters and got a live lesson in democracy. Teacher Melanie Lee arranged the field trip for the group, who signed up along with 64 students during a voter registration drive on campus last month.

PALM BEACH COUNTY Woman, 59, stabbed; boyfriend, 61, charged A woman was in intensive care late Friday after her boyfriend allegedly stabbed her during an argument, according to a Sheriff's Office report. Ellen D. Butler, 59, of West Palm Beach, was taken to Delray Medical Center after Michael H. Miller, 61, stabbed her in the chest, the report said. About 1:30 p.m. Thursday, deputies responded to Butler's home in the 2900 block of Marbill Road west of West Palm Beach. Butler told deputies that Miller stabbed her. Miller also put the knife handle in Butler's hands so her fingerprints would be on the weapon, she told police.

By Brittany Wallman Staff Writer and Staff writer Linda Kleindienst and researcher William Lucey contributed to this report, October 30, 2004

If Jude Daniel tries to vote, poll workers won't be able to find him on the rolls, even though he filled out a voter registration form in August. "It was important to me," said Daniel, a 19-year-old Miami resident. "It would have been my first time." Instead, Daniel's voter registration form was one of 179 found in a box in the office of ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, according to lawyers representing him. "They'd been sitting in the corner," said Mac Stuart, the convicted felon and former ACORN employee who turned the box over to his lawyers this week after he said a friend gave them to him. "That Miami office is in shambles."

DEERFIELD BEACH Lupus walkathon set for April 25 The Alliance For Lupus Research will hold a 5K Walkathon 8 a.m. April 25, Quiet Waters Park, 401 S. Powerline Road. Call 866-925-5257. Election van visits voters at City Hall The city will hold a voter registration drive from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 29 at City Hall, 150 NE Second Ave. The Supervisor of Elections' vehicle will be parked in the east parking lot to help voters. For more information, call 954-480-4200. POMPANO BEACH Seafood festival to run three days The 19th annual Pompano Beach Seafood Festival will be held from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. April 25 at Atlantic Boulevard and State Road A1A. The cost is $7 per person, kids 10 and younger may enter free.

Although the Miramar Democratic Club's recent voter registration drive didn't yield the kind of results one might expect from an area with thousands of unregistered voters, it was still a success, its organizer said. During the event, held at a shopping center at Miramar Parkway and University Drive, just 11 people completed registration forms, and another nine took forms home. Add an effort at another site, which saw 17 Democrats and three Republicans register, and the result is dozens more people legally able to vote than before the club's efforts began, president Sheila Lewis said.